DISINFO: There was a US-led armed coup in Kyiv
SUMMARY
Didn't Albright misspeak here and happen to mention Ukrainian nationalists who, as a result of a US-led armed coup in Kyiv, have been terrorising and intimidating their political opponents for seven years?
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Ukraine; 1.) Euromaidan and 2.) its policy against opposition politicians. This narrative also alleges that the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine were a result of a Western-backed colour revolutions.
1.) The US did not stage the protests in 2013-2014; there was no coup in Ukraine. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013, called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan", were a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last-minute U-turn when, after seven years of negotiation, he refused to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and halted progress towards Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU as a result of Russian pressure.
2.) Despite a challenging geopolitical security setting, with the ongoing Russian-aggression in the east of the Ukrainian state, there is no proof that the Ukrainian government is tipping towards totalitarism or "terrorising and intimidating their political opponents". The democracy watchdog Freedom House rates Ukraine's status as "partly free", giving it a score of 62 out of 100 possible points. Russia, for comparison, ranks only 20 out of 100 and is rated as "not free", Ukraine's northern neighbour Belarus ranks 19 out of 100.
Furthermore, Freedom House concludes in its annual report about Ukraine in 2020:
"Democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Ukraine are seriously challenged by the grinding military conflict in the country’s east (Donbas), Russia’s occupation and de facto control of Crimea, widespread impunity for human rights abuses, and slow reform in key areas, such as the security and justice sectors. At the same time, the flourishing of civil society, major reforms since the Euromaidan revolution, and a vibrant media demonstrate Ukraine’s promise as an open and pluralistic democracy."
See similar disinformation cases claiming that Euromaidan protests were organised by foreign governments: Gauleiter Biden and the US were behind the Orange revolution 2004 and the coup of 2014; Obama staged a coup in Ukraine, allowing Nazis to assume power; the US organised a coup in 2014 in Kyiv and now wants Ukraine to start a war against Russia.